Controls Urged For Medical Experiments

The federal government should tighten restrictions for performing experimental medical procedures on children and animals, members of a health association were told in Orlando Monday.

Tougher standards probably would have prevented doctors at the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California from transplanting a baboon heart into an infant last October, said Arthur Caplan of New York, a prominent spokesman on ethics.

In the case of the infant, known only as Baby Fae, standard ethical considerations were inadequate to protect the child, Caplan told doctors and nurses attending the Catholic Health Association conference.

Association members are meeting all week at the Wyndham Hotel in Orlando.

The infant, born with a malformed heart, lived for three weeks after doctors made a ''desperate'' attempt to save her life, he said. Although the new procedure was reviewed by the Loma Linda medical ethics staff, he said the hospital probably erred by not seeking outside opinions.

He also criticized the hospital for not disclosing how much information the baby's parents were given about the experimental procedure.

Lori B. Andrews, a research attorney for the American Bar Foundation in Chicago, said guidelines are needed for the use of animals in experimental research. She said government and medical officials should decide what types of animal-to-human transplants should be allowed.